He was banned for 11 matches for shoving a referee in September 1998 and also had several run-ins with players during his successful 21-month stint at Swindon.

However, he said he was not worried about bruising egos at Sunderland, who sit a point above the Premier League relegation zone with seven matches to play.

“It’s better to have 15 players ready for the fight than 25 players that are completely lazy,” Di Canio said. “It would be better to find a different situation, but I think I have enough quality to work with.”